Three Shawls, One Color Horoscope Weaving Draft

I recently had the pleasure of visiting 3 Color Horoscope Weavings that live in Arizona. The first is a Color Horoscope Weaving is from 80’s

It was a 60″ square that Carol, the owner, folded diagonally and wore as a triangular shawl until it got retired to live as a wall piece. I had forgotten that I had to add those edges to make it come out square. And I love that Carol painted the wall just to match the weaving.

Then in the late 90’s, Carol commissioned a replacement 60″ square shawl, this time in 30/2 silk (sett 30 epi) from Treenway Silks.

I used the same horoscope draft, but this time I repeat the horoscope 3 times and added Turned Weft Ikat bands to increase the width to 60″. This was woven in 5 panels and invisibly joined.

I am sure you will be able to see the join in this detail.

And then in 2011, Carol asked for yet another horoscope shawl. This time she requested bamboo, plus she wanted her horoscope in a neutral palette.

This was really fun AND challenging! I rounded up the most neutral colors I had in Bambu 12 from Cotton Clouds and put them in a pleasing sequence—with the most “flow”. I also added an “Almost Ikat” striped border for each of the planets. I doubled the warp ends and sett at 24 epi.

It is hard to believe I used the same winding draft for all 3 weavings!

I was so inspired that I must now weave my own horoscope in neutral bamboo! And I suspect a neutral bamboo kit is on the way. Stay tuned!

2 Comments

Hi Angela, Please take a moment to click on “in Bonnie’s Studio” on my website. Then scroll down to Color Horoscope Weaving. I have a detailed description of CHW, a color blending technique I have been working on since 1979. When I person sends me their birth date, time and place, I plug that into an astrology program and a personal horoscope pops out. I translate that horoscope (by hand) into a personal winding draft. One can purchase a winding draft from my selling page or arrange to come to my home and learn any aspect of the process or invite me to their weaving guild (if they belong to a guild) to have me teach a workshop). I am happy to answer any and all questions via email.